1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game software service system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a novel game software service system wherein a game can be played by arbitrarily selecting any one of a plurality of game programs which are stored in memory cartridges respectively.
2. Description of the Prior Art
No game software service system capable of selectively utilizing any one of a plurality of game programs without interchanging a the cartridge has not been put in use so far.
However, the simplest idea of realizing such a system would be to use that like a so-called juke-box type system wherein, a game cartridge is selected by an arm moving in response to an operation of the operator, and the selected game cartridge is inserted into a predetermined connector. However, loading and unloading of the game cartridge by such an arm not only complicates greatly the configuration, but also increases troubles caused by repetition of loading and unloading of the game cartridge.
A second possible idea is to load a plurality of game cartridges in a fixed fashion in corresponding connectors or slots respectively. In such a system, a slot would be enabled selectively by a mechanical switch, for example, a rotary switch or a push switch.
However, the configuration as described above has such problems that the configuration for switching over the slots (connectors) having a large number of pins corresponding to pins of the game cartridge not only becomes very complicated, but also whether or not the game cartridge is loaded in the slot or whether or not the game cartridge is authentic even if it is loaded cannot be confirmed.